You have Google Analytics set up and running on your site, now it is time to begin using it to mine information about your traffic and visitors.

One of the most important features is the Basic Date Range Reports that are available at any time.

Using date ranges can help you in a variety of ways.  It allows you to not only see your traffic over a period of time, but also compare it to other specific time periods in the past to see if traffic is improving, growing, shrinking, etc.

Steps for Running Date Range Reports

1.  Log into you Google Analytics.
   1. http://google.com/analytics
2. In the top right you should see a sign-in button with a down arrow.
3. Click on the down arrow and a drop-down should appear
4. Select Analytics
5. On the left side of the screen you should see the following list.  Select Audience.
6. Another list will appear under audience.  Select Overview.
7.  In the top right you should see dates.  These normally show the past 7 days.
8. If you click on the dates, you get the option to select the dates you prefer by clicking on the start date and end date on the calendar. Then click apply and analytics for the new period will appear on your screen
9. You will see a screen that shows you a graphic of traffic by date, the total number of sessions, different users, number of pageviews, etc.  The pie chart also shows your the new vs. returning visitors.  On this client site, she is just getting started but 90% of those visiting are new to her site.
10. You will notice under the dates you can put a checkmark in compare and select the period you wish to compare to.  This is what a comparison chart will look like.  This is comparing 1 particular week in 2016 to 2017.

So there you have the basics of setting up date ranges.   You can use the date range reporting feature in a variety of places in Google Analytics.   Just take some time to play with this and learn more about the traffic coming to your site.

No Google Analytics?

If you haven’t set up your Google Analytics yet,  now might be the time to get started.  You can find more information about why you should use it and how to get started in these posts.

What is Google Analytics and Why Do You Need It?

How to Set Up Google Analytics on Your Website

You Have Google Analytics – Now What?